Effects of a 12-wk resistance exercise program on skeletal muscle strength in
children with burn injuries.
Suman, Oscar E., Ricarda J. Spies, Mario M. Celis, Ronald P. Mlcak, and David N.
Herndon.
Medical Staff Administration, Shriners Hospitals for Children, and Department of
Surgery, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77550
APStracts 8:0313A, 2001.
The posttraumatic response to burn injury leads to marked and prolonged skeletal muscle
catabolism and weakness, which persist despite standard rehabilitation programs of
occupational and physical therapy. We investigated whether a resistance exercise
program would attenuate muscle loss and weakness that is typically found in children
with thermal injury. We assessed the changes in leg muscle strength and lean body mass
in severely burned children with >40% total body surface area burned. Patients were
randomized to a 12-wk standard hospital rehabilitation program supplemented with an
exercise training program (n = 19) or to a home-based rehabilitation program without
exercise (n = 16). Leg muscle strength was assessed before and after the 12-wk
rehabilitation or training program at an isokinetic speed of 150°/s. Lean body mass was
assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We found that the participation in a
resistance exercise program results in a significant improvement in muscle strength,
power, and lean body mass relative to a standard rehabilitation program without exercise.
Received 16 January 2001; accepted in final form 22 May 2001
APS Manuscript Number A38-1.
Article publication pending J Appl Physiol
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 2001 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 29 June 2001